Garment protector



Aug. 31, 1937. J. GUTTRIDGE GARMENT PROTECTOR Filed Aug. 15, 1935 fame; gaiirz'd ge Patented Aug. 31, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

.2?) which may be present on the bar.

In the case of wooden hangers, while the transverse bar is ordinarily of somewhat larger diameter there is still an appreciable creasing, especially when the article to be supported is placed 15 thereupon while still damp. Such wooden bars are generally rough and contain splinters which become particularly objectionable when sheer fabrics are to be supported.

As verified by the patented art, numerous attempts have been made to solve these problems through the provision of covers of various materials to be interposed between the apparel hanger and the fabric to be supported.

Wherever paper or cardboard has been previously proposed, the cover has been of such sectional configuration that there is a tendency for it to rotate about the hanger bar when the hanger is arred or when the article of clothing is unevenly draped upon the cover. Efforts to .30 prevent such rotation are taught by the prior art,

usually amounting to making the guard or cover longer than the horizontal bar, and notching the ends of the cover for reception of the vertical or inclined portions of the hanger. Such notching 35 complicates assembling, weakens the device and fails to obviate the objectionable twisting of the cover and slipping of the garment. Moreover,

many of these prior devices actually present sharp edges which will cause the undesirable 40 creasing.

Several of the earlier proposed structures depend for attachment to the hanger, upon cut-out tongues which must be inserted into slots, unnecessarily consuming time and increasing the 45 danger of tearing the devices.

Metal protectors have likewise been proposed, but their cost introduces a major objection, rendering them unsuitable for commercial use unless their return to source is assured. Besides, such 50 devices will require cleaning when they become soiled, while the cheaper paper or cardboard types can be replaced feasibly at slight expense.

The present invention relates to a protector or cover for apparel hangers, which proposes to 55 overcome the faults and limitations of the prior devices. The construction herein contemplated is such that the supporting surface of an apparel hanger can be covered quickly and inexpensively, regardless of the length of such surface, without requiring interfitting of parts or alignment of notches with parts of the hanger. Once the cover has been applied to the hanger and the fabric draped thereover, there is no possibility of rotation of the cover about the supporting bar, and thus no tendency of the garment to slip from its support.

In general, the proposed structure comprises a tubular body, the inner surface of which is corrugated and the outer surface relatively smooth, composed of a plurality of layers of material, prepared as a flat blank, which is rolled about the transverse bar of a hanger when needed and held in its tubular form by adhesive or the like. By virtue of the increased diameter of the supporting surface, the creasing efiect may be materially reduced if not obviated.

A more complete understanding will be had upon reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the cover applied to a garment hanger;

Fig. 2 is a partial section of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the completed blank;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the blank of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a partial section corresponding to Fig. 2, of a modified form; and

Fig. 6 is a plan View of a modified blank.

A hanger l0, shown in Fig. l as of the bent wire type, comprises a transverse bar H, a pair of inclined'bars I2, and a suspending element I3. The protector or cover l4 surrounds the transverse or so-called trouser bar, for achieving the desired results. As indicated by broken lines, the other portions of the hanger can be covered similarly to provide additional protection to the clothing or other goods to be supported.

The blank from which the protector is formed is depicted by Figs. 3 and 4 wherein a rectangular layer or ply 15 of corrugated paper or board has a. backing sheet I6 in accordance with a common type in commercial use. The corrugated ply together with its backing sheet is shown as attached to a sheet I! of surfacing material by an adhesive 18 which may be applied only marginally as shown, or over the entire area of contact.

The sheet material H, which may be paper,

cloth, Cellophane, or other fabric, extends be yond the corrugated material and has its remote margin preferably coated with adhesive l9 which serves to retain the device when assembled for use, in the tubular form shown in Fig. 2.

5 In order to take advantage of the maximum advantages of the device it is preferable to wind the blank to such a diameter that only the terminal corrugations of the material are overlapped. The sheet material I I having a relalO tively smooth surface will then be spirally wound to its limit, its adhesive margin moistened and applied to that portion of the previously rolled surface which it happens to overlie. a,

The sheet material l1 may be attached to th 15 corrugated member byrivets, wire fasteners, etc.,

and it is similarly contemplated to employ me-.

chanical fasteners in lieu of theadhesive coating H9 at the opposite margin; "I'h'ecoating [9 may be preformed or applied at the time the tube 20 is to be formed.

The .depth of the corrugation will preferably exceed the diameter of the transverse bar H, so thatwhile oscillation of the'tubular covering about the'bar is possible, there is no possibility 25 of bodily rotating "the tube about the bar without first lifting the tube to'disengage the corrugation from its interlocked relationship with the bar. Thus when the cover has 'been applied to the hanger, some one of the corrugations will register with the bar and so remain unless pur posely changed. Since the overlapping edges of the corrugated material are preferably flattened as shown in Fig. 2, a substantially uniform and continuous corrugated surface results.

It is also conceivable that the complete inner surface of the potector need not becorrugated,

in which event material having one or more longitudinally extending corrugations might be used.

Whereas the ends of the corrugated material 40 will preferably be overlapped in the manner set forth above, this can be varied by bringing the ends into a greater overlapping relationship, or as shown in Fig. '5, spacing the ends to form an arc and completing the tube with the outer surface sheet H. In this case, as wella's the "former,

the inherent resiliency of the corrugated material will maintain the device in'distend'ed condition.

Wire hangers are by no means of standard size 50 and shape, and "appreciable variation in the lengths of their transverse bars has been noted. Accordingly, provision'may be made for such differences by perforating or scoring the'blank as indicated by numerals 20, 2|, 22, 23, in Fig. 6

to faciltate shortening of the cover by removing marginal strips of desired widths.

As will be noted upon reference to Figs. 2 and 5, it is preferable to roll the corrugated material sulficiently to produce an arc of at least 180 so that the suspended material will engage no sharp edges, but instead, hang tangentially from 5 the surface of the protector.

The principle of the present invention may find application to stretched lines as Well as to hangers in general, and the contemplated scope will appear from the following claims. 10

I claim:

1. A substantially flat blank for a garment protector comprising a ply of sheet material having opposite margins thereof adhesively coated, a superposed ply of corrugated material pre- .senting a. plurality of corrugations joined to one of said margins only, said corrugated material terminating short of the other of said margins.

,2. In combination with an apparel hanger having a horizontal bar, a tubular body having a plurality of adjacent internal corrugations substantially parallel to th'ebar' for substantial in terlocking relation with said bar.

3. In combination with an apparel hanger having a horizontal bar, a laminated body having a corrugated surface'composed of a plurality of corrugations substantially parallel to the bar'for engagement with said bar and a relatively smooth opposite surface.

4. In combination, a garment protector comprising a plurality of sheets of material adhesively assembled and arranged in a substantially tubular shape, one of said sheets presenting a plurality of adjacent corrugationsextending longitudinally of said protector and interiorly there of, and a supporting element extending into said protector in cooperation with said corrugations.

5. In combination, a garment protector comprising a ply of paper arcuately disposed and having a plurality of adjacent longitudinal corrugations on its concave surface and having a. margin afiixed to an edge. of sheet material, said sheet material being spirally wound upon itself to maintain the arcuate disposition and fastened in such spiral condition, anda supporting element extending into the spirally wound body for engagement with the corrugations thereof.

' 6. In combination, a garment protector for interposition between a supporting element and a garment, comprising an arcuately shaped memher presenting a plurality of adjacent corrugatlons longitudinally of the protector on its concave surface, and a supporting element paralleling said corrugations for engagement therewith.

' JAMES GUTTRIDGE. 

